Merseyside footie fans say 'twenty's plenty'

Merseyside football fans’ groups joined forces to urge the city’s Premier League clubs to slash the cost of tickets for away supporters at this season’s Anfield and Goodison derbies.

The Blue Union and the Spirit of Shankly have teamed up in the hope that Everton FC and Liverpool FC can agree to a “reciprocal” pricing arrangement so that both matches would cost fans £20 for an adult ticket and £10 for a concession.

The supporters’ groups say attending Premier League matches is “becoming unaffordable” and that “the friendly derby” should be “at a friendly price” for both Reds and Blues.

Both fans’ groups argue the two fixtures – scheduled to be played at Anfield on September 27, and at Goodison on February 7 – should have cut-price tickets in place because the matches will be broadcast live across the world and will generate millions of pounds in revenue for both clubs.

Tickets for the Anfield match are set to cost Evertonians £50 and £52 for the Lower Anfield Road End.

Stephen Martin, SOS spokesperson, said the rising cost of attending a football match cannot continue and a cheaper deal for derby tickets would be warmly welcomed by both sets of travelling fans.

He added: “The Merseyside derby is renowned throughout the world as the ‘friendly derby’ and it’s time that the ticket prices were affordable. The friendly derby at a friendly price.

“Supporters of both clubs spend a large amount of their money throughout the season and the clubs should look to award those supporters by making the shortest away trip having the cheapest ticket price.

“We’re doing this because football is becoming unaffordable for supporters. We have seen other clubs like Newcastle United agree arrangements with other clubs to make it cheaper for their fans. Both Liverpool and Everton should be doing the same for their supporters.

“Both clubs would not be any worse off if they agreed to it. It’s a drop in the ocean given the amount of money that they have made through the television rights deal. If they didn’t make the tickets cheaper for the derbies then the question on every supporters’ lips will be, ‘Why haven’t they?’”

@spiritofshankly

Last season, a total of £182m was paid to both Merseyside clubs in prize money and revenue from the new Premier League television rights deal.

The fans’ groups argue that if both clubs reduced their away ticket prices for the two fixtures, then the total cost would amount to less than 1% of additional revenue generated last season. Their calculations do not take in to account the sponsorship deals and partnerships that the two clubs have made.

Dave Kelly, from the Blue Union, said nine other Premier League clubs had reciprocal agreements in place.

Mr Kelly added: “Both clubs shout from the rooftops about the loyalty of the supporters and we think that the clubs should show empathy with both set sets of fans and go the extra mile to make it cheaper for the fans. It would be the ultimate gesture from the clubs to the fans of the ‘friendly derby’.

“Agreeing to this is about the clubs recognising the expense and time that the supporters go to travel to away games. It would be a magnificent gesture if they agreed to it. I’m sure that the people’s club will listen to the people.

“Nine other clubs have entered into reciprocal agreements to make football affordable for travelling supporters and that’s what we are asking Everton and Liverpool to do here.

“It’s two fixtures that the clubs could jointly do something good on for the fans.”

A spokesman for Everton FC said that the club would not be commenting on the issue at the moment.

Liverpool FC has yet to respond to the ECHO’s request for a comment.

The call for cheaper stadium entry fees comes after fans of both Merseyside clubs joined supporters of teams from all four main divisions of English football to march on the Premier League’s London headquarters.

The marching fans said they were no longer prepared to accept higher prices.

Fans held a meeting with chiefs from the top flight’s governing body who agreed to look at the ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ idea, which meant that a ticket for a match would cost £20.

The Premier League said they would ask the clubs for their views on the matter.

The groups asked for the derby discount to be funded by the clubs and not to be taken from the £200,000 away fans initiative money, which clubs have received in order to help out away supporters.

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Alastair Machray

Alastair Machray was appointed editor of The Liverpool Echo in 2005 and is also editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. He is a former editor of The Daily Post (Wales and England) and editor-in-chief of the company's Welsh operations. Married dad-of-two and keen golfer Alastair is one of the longest-serving newspaper editors in the country. His titles have won numerous awards and spearheaded numerous successful campaigns.